Intel Chiefs' Disagreements Were Misquotes, Trump Says

Two days after his intelligence bosses contradicted him in public testimony, President Trump said they told him they’d been misquoted. CNN asked the president Thursday if he'd discussed with CIA Director Gina Haspel and national intelligence chief Dan Coats their testimony before a Senate panel. In that testimony, Haspel and Coats differed with Trump's statements on issues including ISIS and North Korea, and he in turn disagreed with them the next day. "They said they were totally misquoted and totally taken out of context," Trump said. That's a shift from Wednesday, when Trump tweeted that "Intelligence should go back to school!"

In a followup tweet Thursday, Trump continued the new theme. "Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media—and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc.," Trump wrote. PolitiFact has specifics on what Haspel and Coats said on particular issues, and how it was at odds with what Trump said on those same issues. Politico points out that a full report and recordings of the testimony are available. Trump encouraged people to "read the COMPLETE testimony" and judge for themselves. (More President Trump stories.)